Method and device for composing sms message

ABSTRACT

A user of a mobile phone ( 20 ) composes a message on a display screen ( 21 ) of the mobile phone ( 20 ) by a selective application of various load levels upon various areas of the display screen ( 21 ) that correspond to keys of a virtual keypad ( 23 ). An application of a load upon a localized area of one of the keys will display one of a plurality of characters associated with the respective key. A sensed and measured level of the applied load determines which of the characters is displayed on the display screen ( 21 ).

The present invention generally relates is wireless communicationdevices. The present invention specifically relates to a Short MessagingService (“SMS”) of a mobile phone.

FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile phone 10 having a standard keypad 11 and adisplay screen 12. The following TABLE 1 lists the number of buttonpresses associated with a display of each alphabetic character, numericcharacter and symbolic character of keypad 11: TABLE 1 1 PRESS 2 PRESSES3 PRESSES 4 PRESSES 5 PRESSES 1 A B C 2 D E F 3 G H I 4 J K L 5 M N 0 6P Q R S 7 T U V 8 W X Y Z 9 * 0 #

Consequently, sending a message of “HAVE A NICE DAY” as illustratedwould require a user of mobile phone 10 to perform a total oftwenty-seven (27) key presses [H(2P), A(1P), V(3P), E(2P), SPACE, A(1P),SPACE, N(2P), I(3P), C(3P), E(2P), SPACE, D(1P), A(1P), and Y(3P)].Clearly, sending longer and/or more elaborate messages can be timeconsuming and burdensome for a user of mobile phone 10.

One form of the present invention is a wireless communication device(e.g., a mobile phone, a personal data assistant, etc.) for composing amessage. The device comprises a display screen and a virtual keypadhaving a plurality of keys displayed on the display screen. The virtualkeypad includes a first key operable to display a first characterassociated with the first key within the message as displayed on thedisplay screen in response to an application of a first load level upona localized area of the display screen corresponding to the first key.The first key is further operable to display a second characterassociated with the first key within the message as displayed on thedisplay screen in response to an application of a second load level uponthe localized area of the display screen corresponding to the first key.

A second form of the present invention is a method of operating awireless communication device in composing a message. The wirelesscommunication device includes a display screen and a virtual keypadhaving a plurality of keys displayed on the display screen. First, anapplication of a load upon a localized area of the display screencorresponding to a first key of the virtual keypad is sensed andmeasured. Second, a first character associated with the first key isdisplayed within the message in response to the load equating a firstload level. Third, a second character associated with the first key isdisplayed within the message in response to the load equating a secondload level.

The foregoing forms as well as other forms, features and advantages ofthe present invention will become further apparent from the followingdetailed description of the presently preferred embodiments, read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. The detailed description anddrawings are merely illustrative of the present invention rather thanlimiting, the scope of the present invention being defined by theappended claims and equivalents thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a standard mobile phone;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of one embodiment of a mobile phone inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of one embodiment of a display screenand a virtual keypad of the mobile phone illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a capacitance profile of thedisplay screen illustrated in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a cross sectional capacitance of akey of the virtual keypad illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 illustrates a mobile phone 20 having a touch sensitive displayscreen 21 and a standard keypad 22. The touch sensitive display screen21 is responsive to an application of a load upon an area of displayscreen 21, such as, for example, the downward load being applied todisplay screen 21 via a stylus 30 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The downwardload may be applied by other instruments as would occur to those havingordinary skill in the art, such as, for example, a finger of a user ofmobile phone 20. In one embodiment, the touch sensitive display screen21 is fabricated and operated in accordance European Patent ApplicationSerial No. 02076461.9, entitled “Touch Sensitive Display Device” andfiled Apr. 15, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display of a virtual keypad 23 on the touchsensitive display screen 21. Each illustrated key of the virtual keypad23 has one or more associated characters (e.g., alphabetic, numeric orsymbolic). Each key of virtual keypad 23 is further assigned to alocalized area of the touch sensitive display screen 21, such as, forexample, the area of display screen 21 directly above a key.Accordingly, when a user of mobile phone 20 desires to compose amessage, the user sequentially applies various load(s) in the localizedarea(s) corresponding to the key(s) required to the compose the message.For any given key, a sensed and measured level of the load determineswhich character associated with the key will be displayed within themessage on display screen 21.

FIG. 4 illustrates a profile of a capacitive-based embodiment of thetouch sensitive display screen 21. From FIG. 4, coordinates of alocalized area of display screen 21 for each key can be ascertained. Acapacitance of each key equals a base level in the absence of anapplication of a load upon a corresponding localized area, such as, forexample, 0.5 pF as illustrated in FIG. 4. A capacitance of each keyincreases upon an application of a load upon a corresponding localizedarea, such as, for example, the profile of capacitance of key “jkl5” asillustrated in FIG. 4. The degree to which the capacitance increases isindicative of the amount of load being applied to the correspondinglocalized area. Each character associated with a key is furtherassociated with a different load level to thereby ascertain when theuser of mobile phone 20 desires to include a specific character withinthe message on display screen 21.

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of five (5) load levelsrepresentative of an application of five (5) different load levels upona localized area of key of the virtual keypad 23 (FIG. 3). The five (5)load levels include a 10% increase in capacitance of a key, a 30%increase in capacitance of a key, a 50% increase in capacitance of akey, a 80% increase in capacitance of a key, and a 100% increase incapacitance of a key. The following TABLE 2 exemplarity lists anassociation of each load level with one or more characters: TABLE 2 10%30% 50% 80% 100% 1 A B C 2 D E F 3 G H I 4 J K L 5 M N O 6 P Q R S 7 T UV 8 W X Y Z 9 * 0 #

Consequently, sending a message of “HAVE A NICE DAY” as illustratedwould require a user of mobile phone 10 to perform a total of fifteen(15) key presses [H(1P), A(1P), V(1P), E(1P), SPACE, A(1P), SPACE,N(1P), I(1P), C(1P), E(1P), SPACE, D(1P), A(1P), and Y(1P)], for a totaldecrease of twelve (12) presses. Clearly, sending longer and/or moreelaborate messages will be less time consuming and burdensome for a userof mobile phone 20.

In one embodiment, each load level of TABLE 1 represents a minimum loadlevel within a range encompassing the load level. Thus, a measurement ofa load equates the 10% load level when a load measurement LM is within arange of 10%≦LM<30%, a measurement of a load equates the 30% load levelwhen a load measurement LM is within a range of 30%≦LM<50%, and so onand so on.

In a second embodiment, each load level of TABLE 1 represents a maximumload level within a range encompassing the load level. Thus, ameasurement of a load equates the 10% load level when a load measurementLM is within a range of 0%<LM≦10%, a measurement of a load equates the30% load level when a load measurement LM is within a range of10%<LM≦30%, and so on and so on.

In a third embodiment, each load level of TABLE 1 represents load levelwithin a range encompassing the load level. Thus, a measurement of aload equates the 10% load level when a load measurement LM is within arange of 0%<LM≦20%, a measurement of a load equates the 30% load levelwhen a load measurement LM is within a range of 20%<LM≦40%, and so onand so on.

The number of load levels associated with a key is without limit. Thefollowing TABLE 3 exemplarily lists another association of load levelswith one or more characters: TABLE 3 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 80% 90%100% 1 A a B b C c 2 D d E e F f 3 G g H h I i 4 J j K k L l 5 M m N n Oo 6 P p Q q R r S s 7 T t U u V v 8 W w X x Y y Z z 9 * 0 #

It is important to note that FIGS. 2-5 illustrate specific applicationsand embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to limitthe scope of the present disclosure or claims to that which is presentedtherein. Upon reading the specification and reviewing the drawingshereof, it will become immediately obvious to those skilled in the artthat myriad other embodiments of the present invention are possible, andthat such embodiments are contemplated and fall within the scope of thepresently claimed invention.

While the embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are presentlyconsidered to be preferred, various changes and modifications can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thescope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims, and allchanges that come within the meaning and range of equivalents areintended to be embraced therein.

1. A wireless communication device (20) for composing a message, saiddevice (20) comprising: a display screen (21); and a virtual keypad (23)having a plurality of keys displayed on said display screen (21),wherein said virtual keypad (23) includes a first key operable todisplay a first character associated with said first key within themessage as displayed on said display screen (21) in response to anapplication of a first load level upon a localized area of said displayscreen (21) corresponding to said first key, and wherein said first keyis further operable to display a second character associated with saidfirst key within the message as displayed on said display screen (21) inresponse to an application of a second load level upon the localizedarea of said display screen (21) corresponding to said first key.
 2. Thewireless communication device (20) of claim 1, wherein said first key isfurther operable to display a third character associated with said firstkey within the message as displayed on said display screen (21) inresponse to an application of a third load level upon the localized areaof said display screen (21) corresponding to said first key.
 3. Thewireless communication device (20) of claim 2, wherein said first key isfurther operable to display a fourth character associated with saidfirst key within the message as displayed on said display screen (21) inresponse to an application of a fourth load level upon the localizedarea of said display screen (21) corresponding to said first key.
 4. Thewireless communication device (20) of claim 5, wherein said first key isfurther operable to display a fifth character associated with said firstkey within the message as displayed on said display screen (21) inresponse to an application of a fifth load level upon the localized areaof said display screen (21) corresponding to said first key.
 5. In awireless communication device (20) including a display screen (21) and avirtual keypad (23) having a plurality of keys displayed on the displayscreen (21), a method of composing a message, said method comprising:sensing and measuring an application of a load upon a localized area ofthe display screen (21) corresponding to a first key of the virtualkeypad (23); displaying a first character associated with the first keywithin the message as displayed on the display screen (21) in responseto a measurement of the load equating a first load level; and displayinga second character associated with the first key within the message asdisplayed on the display screen (21) in response to a measurement of theload equating a second load level.
 6. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising: displaying a third character associated with the first keywithin the message as displayed on the display screen (21) in responseto a measurement of the load equating a third load level.
 7. The methodof claim 6, further comprising: displaying a fourth character associatedwith the first key within the message as displayed on the display screen(21) in response to a measurement of the load equating a fourth loadlevel.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: displaying a fifthcharacter associated with the first key within the message as displayedon the display screen (21) in response to a measurement of the loadequating a fifth load level.